T5HO Information

[Acielot]

Would a 2 bulb 48 watt fixture work for my 20 gallon? I am planning on getting some lps like hammer and torch, definitely no sps because that needs too much. Or should I just continue to save for a 4 bulb fixture?

A 4bulb fixture wil give you more leeway should you want anything that is a little more light hungry but a 2bulb will work just fine.

I had a 2bulb fixture one was 10,000k and the other was 420nm actinic

[TylerD86]

Is anyone running an ATI sunpower 6x24 over top of a biocube 29? I am wondering if this is too much light for this tank? Also if you are running this set up, is there a way to hang the light besides from the ceiling. I live in an apartment so that isn't an option for me.

[PODPIMP]

What do you guys think 6x24 ATI PM Blue+ Blue+ Fiji GE 6500 Blue+ Blue+

Click the link for my old 34 gallon in my signature. I used the same 6 bulb spectrum. I love the ge65k bulb

[Stonesour36]

Thanks PodPimp!!! How did you manage to keep the light so low and not bleach all the sps corals?

[kevinNCFD]

I have a question, i just purchased a 24 inch t5 lighting system for my 10 gallon tank the bulbs it the bulbs it has at the moment are one 6500k and a actinic bulb. Can i effectively grow coral with them? Or do I need different bulbs?

[Chadf]

I have a question, i just purchased a 24 inch t5 lighting system for my 10 gallon tank the bulbs it the bulbs it has at the moment are one 6500k and a actinic bulb. Can i effectively grow coral with them? Or do I need different bulbs?

 

Grow coral? Yes

Sps? Probably not unless you get different bulbs

[lakshwadeep]

I have a question, i just purchased a 24 inch t5 lighting system for my 10 gallon tank the bulbs it the bulbs it has at the moment are one 6500k and a actinic bulb. Can i effectively grow coral with them? Or do I need different bulbs?

 

A two-bulb fixture is going to provide moderate lighting at best (good enough for most soft corals and some LPS), even with top-quality bulbs. What is the fixture brand? Do you know if the reflectors are individual and/or parabolic?

[santacreekfurrows]

Hey all, I'm on a budget, and am looking at the 4x36" Odyssea fixture... I know it's not the greatest, and I know the bulbs are not so good, so my plan would be to change 2 bulbs shortly after getting the light, then 2 more in about 3-6 months... then rotate through one at a time until they are all good bulbs and I'm on a schedule of replacing one every 3-4months... to start I'm thinking of using some Zoo Med bulbs that I can get locally. I plan to grow coralline, zoos, mushrooms, xenia, and maybe something like a toadstool leather coral, possibly other stuff that won't need more than 4xT5s... does this sound like a decent approach, for someone on a budget?

[kevinNCFD]

Its a zoo med im assuming a cheapo light the money was right, 30 bucks with it being 30% off and alot of coupons, the 2 bulbs share one reflector. What would be a better choice in bulbs? So far i have 3 frags polyps, kenya tree and xeina i believe they were free due to my neigbor taking down one of his tanks. I had them for a month and they seem to be growing well.

[Tanks]

Tax refund = new tanks.. squeeeeeee

Going to be getting some new tanks.. an ADA 60-F(24x12x7) and a Mr Aqua 12L(36x8x9). Thinking of getting each one a 2bulbT5 fixture. Would 2 bulb T5's be enough light for these tanks? .I worry that 4 bulbs on tanks this shallow will be overkill. Stocking will be mostly softies and LPS.

 

Color choice on bulbs so far is Coral+ and a Blue+, does this sound about right? This color combo stuff is nuts =)

 

Plan is to make some DIY LED strips to compliment each of them.

[Flood504]

Can any of you guys recommend a 6 bulb combo that'll look blue, but not too blue? I want it to look natural with a little added blue.

[Acielot]

I have the Zoo-Med Fixture also. But I am confused about getting new bulbs that are not made by Zoo-Med. I wanted to try out the ATI or Geisemann brands but it seems that they do not make HO T5's? I would assume that they would but the only ones that specify that they are HO are the ATI Blue plus and the ATI Purple plus.

 

Would I run the risk of destroying the lights or the fixture by not using the same brand bulb?

 

Bulk Reef Supply is the only supplier I have seen with these.

[santacreekfurrows]

Hey, got the Odyssea fixture, like it a lot so far, haven't run it for any length of time yet, but like it... the 36" is 36" long(fixture) so the mount won't fit the tank rim, I knew of this ahead of time and it will be fine with the build I'm planning... I have 1x10K, 2xActinic(blue ones that came installed), and 1x Zoo Med Actinic 420.... I like these purple bulbs.... I really like the blue ones that came in the light too... also I know there are better bulbs, but this will do on my budget... I'll try and post more once it's been running a while... but in the almost a 40G thread I started, as it will be a little while longer before the tank is up...

[lakshwadeep]

I have the Zoo-Med Fixture also. But I am confused about getting new bulbs that are not made by Zoo-Med. I wanted to try out the ATI or Geisemann brands but it seems that they do not make HO T5's? I would assume that they would but the only ones that specify that they are HO are the ATI Blue plus and the ATI Purple plus.

 

Would I run the risk of destroying the lights or the fixture by not using the same brand bulb?

 

Bulk Reef Supply is the only supplier I have seen with these.

 

ATI and Geisemann (and almost all other well known reef-oriented brands like Korallen-Zucht and even Coralife/Current-USA) all make HO T5s, even though the online descriptions may not say so. Ex:

http://www.reefgeek.com/lighting/t5-fluorescent/bulbs.html

 

Also, the brands can be interchanged as long as they are the right wattage.

[xzeror]

Still have stock bulbs in my oddysea fixture, I want new bulbs. Had a few combos in mind, let me know what you guys think. I love the purple/pink look w/ extreme pop is I kinda want but also good growth.

 

 

Combo 1

Ati blue+

Uvl super actnic

Kz Fiji or Ati Purp+

Ati blue+

 

Combo 2

Blue+

2 Fiji or Purp+

blue+

 

Combo 3

3 blue+

Fiji or Purp +

 

They are in no specific order so sugggestions on that would be appreciated. This is a mixed reef with sps close to top.

[markalot]

blue+

purple+

blue+

coral+

front

 

I've also done

 

blue+

purple+

coral+

blue+

front

and

 

blue+

coral+

blue+

purple+

front

 

Regardless of order I keep coming back to this combination.

 

Replace purple with blue if you like more blue. Keep in mind these bulbs will be up to twice as bright as your stock bulbs so replace slowly or risk bleaching corals.

[xzeror]

blue+

purple+

blue+

coral+

front

 

I've also done

 

blue+

purple+

coral+

blue+

front

and

 

blue+

coral+

blue+

purple+

front

 

Regardless of order I keep coming back to this combination.

 

Replace purple with blue if you like more blue. Keep in mind these bulbs will be up to twice as bright as your stock bulbs so replace slowly or risk bleaching corals.

 

any pics of your setup ?

[Chadf]

I run from front to back:

 

coral+

 

blue+

 

kz Fiji purple

 

blue+

 

My sig pic is pretty much the real life color just to give you an idea of what that looks like.

[markalot]

any pics of your setup ?

 

Signature, any picture of my 40B. Start from the end and move back. Pictures are all white balance adjusted, so it's really hard to tell. I try and adjust based on what my eye sees, but some pics end up too blue or too purple.

[xzeror]

Hey all, I'm on a budget, and am looking at the 4x36" Odyssea fixture... I know it's not the greatest, and I know the bulbs are not so good, so my plan would be to change 2 bulbs shortly after getting the light, then 2 more in about 3-6 months... then rotate through one at a time until they are all good bulbs and I'm on a schedule of replacing one every 3-4months... to start I'm thinking of using some Zoo Med bulbs that I can get locally. I plan to grow coralline, zoos, mushrooms, xenia, and maybe something like a toadstool leather coral, possibly other stuff that won't need more than 4xT5s... does this sound like a decent approach, for someone on a budget?

 

 

On stock bulbs with the 24" fixture I'm growing all that you mentioned, plus montipora caps, digi, and birdsnest. I have a millie and acro but they dont have much growth or atleast that i can tell, they do however have nice polyp extension.

 

With new bulbs I believe I can have better growth.

[QuickSilver525]

hey guys i have a question, i just bought a NEP20, and i noticed there r not many bulbs to choose from for it. i was wondering which yall thought was better the uvl or the truelumen?? also what is a good choice in color or bulbs to keep sps colored up very pretty and not brown out?? thank you so much for all ur input and suggestions

 

Rob

p.s. i have used the search thing at the top and most of those topics are all really outdated, thanks

[Reefer911]

GREAT ARTICLE!

[franky13]

GREAT ARTICLE!

it is a very impressive article, isn't it?

[Veng]

So I used this guide in helping me pick colors, so I figured I'd give a little back. I posted these in my thread as well, but I'll repost them here. I had made a DIY LED that had NW, RB, OCW, and TV, but after I dropped it in the tank, I lost the OCW channels and a TV channels. I don't have time right now to screw with fixing the DIY, so I decided to screw around with T5s.

 

This is 2x of the 30" (24" bulb) 2 bulb FishNeedIt fixtures. The bulbs are as noted in the sign at the bottom of each picture.

 

FishNeedIt Blue

FishNeedIt 10K

GE 6500K

ATI Blue+

ATI Purple+

ATI Actinic

 

The camera exposure was set on the original LEDs of cree 3x NW, 6x RB, all driven at 750mA, in 3 clusters, each cluster is 1x NW 2x RB). I then left it unchanged (except where noted in the pictures) so the relative brightness "to the eyes" (not PAR), is as shown.

 

 

 

 

 

 

These next two are labeled wrong, they are 2x Blue plus + 1x "Fish need it 10K" and 1x "Fish need it blue"

 

 

 

 

 

This is what I'll be running with.

 

I'm really happy with how it turned out.

[lambertdavisj]

I have 2

2x24w t5ho

the current bulb set up is

 

giessman (ati blue plus equevilant) (will be replacing with ati blue plus)

ati coral plus

uv super actinic

stock current actinic blue

 

im wanting a 16k look but with full spectrum lighting. I am building a custom tank that will be 30L x 18.5W x 30H with euro bracing. will a four bulb t5 be good lighting for lps and sps? and what bulb set up do you recommend?

 

will post pics here when complete